Choline PET/CT in Prostate Cancer Imaging Tara Barwick Consultant in Radiology & Nuclear Medicine, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, London Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer, Division of Cancer, Imperial College UKRC June 2014
Aims of talk 1. To understand the role of choline PET in the multimodality pathway of prostate cancer 2. To describe the mechanism of action and technical aspects 3. To understand the main indications of choline PET in prostate cancer 4. To highlight the imaging pearls and pitfalls with case examples.
Prostate cancer Most commonly diagnosed cancer in men (PSA screening) Second cause of cancer death after lung cancer Diagnostic tools DRE, PSA, TRUS and perineal template biospy Controversy regarding over diagnosis, spectrum of disease, what is clinically significant etc Stage (DRE) Low Intermediate High T1-T2a T2b T2c GS 2-6 7 8-10 PSA (ng/ml) <10 10-20 >20 NCCN/ NICE
Prostate cancer Most frequent metastases to lymph nodes (pelvic / retroperitoneal) Bone- 80% of the metastatic sites but only 10% have bone metastases at diagnosis Lung and liver (late stages) Treatment LOCALISED: active surveillance, radical prostatectomy, EBRT and brachytherapy LOCALLY ADVANCED hormone therapy METASTATIC hormone therapy/ chemotherapy/ novel agent
F-18 FDG PET prostate cancer Pitfall FDG: Limited utility due to relatively low glucose metabolism of most PC
Why Choline? Essential component of phospholipids and cell membrane metabolism Choline is incorporated into cell membrane phospholipids through phosphoryl choline synthesis Roivainen A et al 00 Choline is phosphorylated by choline kinase & trapped in the cell Malignant tumours increased cell membrane metabolism, increased choline use and increased CK expression (enzyme which phosphorylates choline) Ackerstaff et al, Can Res 2001
C-11 F-18 choline in prostate cancer Tracer Advantages Limitations C-11 choline Low urinary excretion Ideal choline tracer (biologically the same as natural choline) F-18 fluoroethylcholine (FEC) F-18 fluoromethylcholine (FMC) Half life 110 mins Half life 20 mins On site cyclotron Urinary excretion (FMC< FEC) Limited availability in UK
Protocol Patient prep- fasting 6 hours (reduced bowel uptake) Administered activity 330 MBq (approx 10 msv) De Grado JNM 01 Started with early dynamic pelvic Now 45-60 mins pi half body vertex to upper thighs Flat bed
Availability and cost Erigal F-18 FEC Tuesdays & Thursdays Petnet F-18 FMC Mondays Cost 450-650
PET/CT in prostate cancer X Diagnosis Localization Primary staging Biochemical relapse post radical therapy Radiation therapy planning Response assessment- salvage and systemic therapy
Multiparametric MRI (mp MRI) T2 b1400 DCE ADC NICE 2014: mpmri Men with negative prostate biopsy and elevated PSA Staging if knowledge of T or N stage could affect management
Staging Prostate cancer mpmri is superior for localisation and T stage Choline PET cannot reliably differentiate between BPH and cancer Not reliable for ECE and SV invasion CECT, Bone scintigraphy
PSA rising, repeated negative biopsies has pacemaker so can t have mpmri Pitfall: cannot differentiate between BPH and prostate cancer- NOT for localisation/ T stage Pearl: may however be useful in cases where MRI contra indicated
PET/CT in prostate cancer X Diagnosis Localization Primary staging Biochemical relapse post radical therapy Radiation therapy planning Response assessment- salvage and systemic therapy Choline PET/CT indications: 1. Rising PSA post radical therapy 2. High risk staging- equivocal finding on CWU
Nodal staging in Prostate cancer LN metastases are seen in 25-30% of pts LN involvement reduces disease free survival from 85% to 50% Pelvic LND gold standard Invasive 4-5% morbidity Expensive, needs hospitalization May not be able to sample all potential nodal areas Standard anatomic imaging has limited diagnostic accuracy Pooled sensitivity 39% Pooled specificity 82% Hovels et al, Clin Radiol 2008
406 LN in 26 pts lymphadenectomy 27/ 406 LN positive- 17/27 <1cm size MRI Per nodal Sens 18.5% Spec 98.7% Per patient Sens 50% Spec 72.2% PET/CT Per nodal Sens 51.9 % Spec 98.4% Per patient Sens 77.8% Spec 82.4%
Heterogenous sensitivity Patient selection Inhomogenous- risk Surgical technique N Stage
M stage- bone metastases Modality Advantages Disadvantages 99mTc MDP Planar bone scan Planar plus SPECT MRI WB- MRI Choline PET/CT Widely available Cheap Sensitive Early marrow High spatial and contrast resolution Neural compromise No Radiation Visceral and bony disease No Radiation Visceral and bony disease Non specific marker of osteoblastic activity Reflects osteoblastic in response in cortex will miss early marrow disease Not good for ribs Availability / cost?specificity Body coils Availability/ cost PET- spatial resolution Choline PET/ MR
Choline PET/CT highest specificity MRI higher sensitivity Good study comparing FCH and WB MRI lacking
Pearl: Bone metastases often not sclerotic
Tc99mc MDP Staging PSA 55 Gleason 4 +5 F-18 FCH L5 met- very subtle T spine met- occult on CT Scapula on met CT occult on CT Retroperitoneal LN mets: below size criteria
High risk staging : Gleason 4 + 5, sclerotic lesion L5 on staging MRI Pearl: may detect disease in non enlarged nodes Pearl: May detect early bone/ marrow involvement
Rising PSA post radical treatment 15-40% men biochemical relapse within 10 years of post radical Rx (RT or prostatectomy) Recurrence- 15-25% local 20-25% metastatic only 45-55% both local and metastatic IMPORTANT TO ESTABLISH IF SUITABLE FOR LOCAL SALVAGE (Surgery or RT) OR SYSTEMIC RX After Radical Prostatectomy PSA >0.2 ng/ml After Radiation therapy PSA > 2 + nadir ng/ml
Rising PSA post radical treatment C11choline overall detection rate 40-71% Picchio et al, Krause et al, Reske et al FCH overall detection rates 43-55% Pelosi et al, Marzola et al, Cimitan et al High Specificity & PPV, less high sensitivity and NPV Sensitivity increases with trigger PSA value PSAdt (doubling time) PSAvel (velocity) Even if detecting disease in only 30% with PSA levels 1.5ng/ml 1. Cure after RP with salvage RT is more successful when lower PSA-levels (<1 ng/ml) 2. local therapy not appropriate if systemic disease present
Rising PSA post radical prostatectomy. PSA 1.62
77 yr old post radical RT biochemical relapse PSA 6
Rising PSA post radical radiotherapy T2 ADC DCE b1400
Lesion at level of Prostate Lesion at level of Seminal vesicles a Axial 11 C-choline PET Axial 11 C-choline PET/CT Axial 11 C-choline PET Axial 11 C-choline PET/CT b c * ADT causes marked reduction in choline uptake
Influence of ADT ADT - neoadjuvant, primary and adjuvant treatment In vitro & in vivo studies report ADT to reduce choline uptake in hormone sensitive PCa De Grado, Giovacchini Implications for initial staging Biochemical failure on ADT (hormone resistant Pca) are more likely to have a positive choline than hormone sensitive Giovacchini, Castellucci, Husarik In absence of strong evidence for an inhibitory effect of ADT in hormone resistant PCa prolonged withdrawal of ADT in patients experiencing progression of disease may be ethically questionable
Inguinal and mediastinal LN Pitfall: Active infection/ inflammation can be choline avid
A Incidental findings B C D
Incidental findings
A B C D
Conclusion Indications for choline PET/CT in prostate cancer: Rising PSA post radical therapy (PSA kinetics) High risk staging- equivocal finding on CWU Thanks to Amar Challapalli, Steve Mangar, Eric Aboagye, Sameer Khan, Stefano Fanti Thank you for your attention
M stage- bone metastases BS vs Choline PET: Relapse & Neg BS- Choline PET identified bone mets in 15% Fuccio 12 BS vs NaF F-18 PET: F-18 NaF PET/CT more sensitive and specific than BS Even-Sapir 06 WB DW MRI vs F-18 NaF PET: WB MRI higher specificity but lower sensitivity Mosavi 12 Choline vs F-18 NaF PET: similar sensitivity. FCH detected early marrow metastases Behesti 08 Choline more sensitive than bone scintigraphy Choline PET and WB MRI complimentary-?pet/mri WB DWI v Choline PET: choline more sensitive MRI more specific Eschmann et al 07
Rising PSA post radical prostatectomy.
65 yr old. PSA 11. Staging suspicious pelvic nodes on MRI